Duraflex Group Australia (DGA) is once more calling for nominations for the Thomas Sabo Ambassador Program.
The initiative launched last year and Phil Edwards, managing director of DGA, the local distributor for Thomas Sabo, said he was “thrilled” by the inaugural results and interest shown by retail stockists.
Under the program, participating stores were required to nominate a Thomas Sabo ‘ambassador’ who would undergo education on visual merchandising, stock management, brand training and sales incentives.
DGA monitored, evaluated and scored each participant on their performance, offering product, shopping vouchers and access to exclusive events as incentives for their achievements throughout the program.
Melanie Mclean from Gallerie Fine Jewellery in Kotara, NSW achieved the highest combined score across the four areas of assessment and was named the 2015 Thomas Sabo ‘grand ambassador’, receiving a $5,000 travel voucher to spend on a European holiday.
Ambassador benefits
Mclean told Jeweller she was excited to win the program’s grand prize, noting that the trophy she had received for her achievements and subsequently displayed in the store’s window had attracted much customer interest.
Mclean said the training helped her and other staff members to learn more about Thomas Sabo product, increasing their confidence in answering customer questions.
Geneane Gusse, the owner of Gallerie Fine Jewellery, added, “[Customers] want to come back to us because of our product knowledge and neat and organised displays [resulting from the visual merchandising training].”
Edwards said the program’s success was a driving factor behind holding it again this year. “The program not only proved to instil an increased brand passion among many staff in retailers nationally [but] also resulted in … an increase in Thomas Sabo sales [and] an overall lift of the brand image out in the market place. In 2016 we only expect even bigger and better things.”
He explained the 2016 program would incorporate additional improvements on the inaugural edition, with the program to be largely implemented through an online platform that ambassadors could access 24 hours, seven days a week.
Of the more than 250 Thomas Sabo Sterling Silver collection stockists across Australia and New Zealand who were invited to be involved in the 2015 program, 80 per cent were said to have participated.
Thomas Sabo retail stockists can nominate a staff member for the program until 14 April, with the 2016 program to commence on 1 May.
Grand ambassador winner
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